If I Die TomorrowCan I Cry Today?
by SailorSilvanesti
Summary: A short story I wrote for a self-made challenge involving Draco & Luna, Love, Always & Scotland.  Details Inside   "A frustrated fist slammed into the window as a small, hot, salty tear slipped out unbidden and rolled down his pale features." D/L R&R Plz?


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter...that is the great Goddess J.K's great honour...*all fall in worship***_

**Alright, so I kind of felt I hadn't been writing enough HP fiction recently and set a challenge on an FB page I admin as Phoenix Fire ["The 7 HP Books are my 7 horcruxes, without them I wouldn't have a life"]**

_**So I Posted a challenge where the first commenter gave me two characters, the next a random word, the third also another random word and the fourth, a random place of their choosing.**_

**Ended up with this:**

**FIRST PERSON TO POST: _Give me two characters._ [Draco & Luna]**

**SECOND PERSON TO POST: _One Random Word._[Always]**

**THIRD PERSON TO POST: _Another Random Word._[Love]**

**FOURTH PERSON TO POST: _Their Location._[Scotland]**

***So...I wrote this in an hour...so please be gentle with regards to critiques...I was just writing the plot as I went along...***

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><p><strong>~*If I Die Tomorrow...May I Cry Today?*~<strong>

**~)0(~**

He gazed out the sumptuous red curtains, staring at the bleak forecast of rain, rain and even more rain after that!

Sighing softly, there was a weight of guilt in his heart that would not dissipate...this was meant to be an enchanting week of nothing but the two of them, after all...was that not traditionally the very definition of a Honeymoon?

A frustrated fist slammed into the window as a small, hot, salty tear slipped out unbidden and rolled down his pale features. Why must everything be against him? Even when he tries so hard to do something nice for those he loved...the world turned and mauled his intentions. Destroying his soul in such a slow, agonising manner it was akin to being fed into a meat-grinder, inch by inch.

But there it was, his very reason for living was now gently cupping his bleeding hand, the skin torn from the force of impact. Those eyes...so enchanting, they held so much and yet, he never felt lost when he gazed into the blue depths...so beautiful. No blame was ever held there, not for him...

It was like, like she *knew* on some base level, what his thoughts were...

And oh, how more profound the moment could have been...if she hadn't been wearing the purple turtle shell on her head...oh, sorry, 'markashet shell', a small laugh escaped as a choked sob.

Their fingers intertwined instinctually.

It was one of his favourite things. Made him feel a part of...something, anything, to have yourself owned and protected by another was something he never thought he would enjoy. There was always, burned vividly into his mind, the day he had stood up to his mother and steadfastly explained he would never marry the girl, Astoria, that she and father had picked out.

Oh, the screams, threats and curses that had accompanied his slow, sauntered retreat, that day...

But Luna had been waiting outside, and her friends...that blasted Potter, his muggle-born friend and the Weasley...all there in case he should need their protection, at Luna's urging. It had given him this uncomfortable warmth in the area he supposed his heart should be...he had always been dubious of that particular organ's existence thanks to his family...maybe they were simply born without one?

It was a possible explanation for why his parents had always been so cold...so haughty and petty in their preference.

But, even if that were so, it was Luna who had given him one. _Hers_.

Her heart in exchange for a burgeoning affection in his own chest, the shortening of breath when he was around her, how his palms sweated before he had knelt on the gravel of his parent's driveway amidst all the yelling, and asked for her hand with his own mother's engagement ring. A smirk graced his lips as he thought of how his mother had reacted to discover its loss from her nightstand...

Despite the shocked, pleased, and rather horrified faces of the others present...his gaze had been drawn to Luna's beautiful expression, her perfect pink lips had parted in an 'Oh...' soft as breathing. For a moment, the growing heart had slipped down into the pit of his stomach, would she refuse him? Would she- ?

But no, Luna dropped down on her knee and slipped the ring on her finger in one swift movement...before producing her own little box of velvet. It opened to reveal a ring with a tiny 'hallows' intricately wrought into it...

"Yes, Draco, always...but I meant to propose to you...the Crumple-horned Snorkack female *_always_* proposes to the male, silly!" she beamed and slid it on his proffered finger.

Then they had kissed, amidst Ron's proclamations of 'going to hurl', Harry telling the other to stop being silly, and Hermione to calm down. The witch was bouncing up and down, making a shrill squealing noise...

Even the wedding had been a magnificent affair thrown by his technically adoptive family...the Weasleys. Mrs Weasley -who had forever been onto him about calling him 'Mum'- was continually fussing about that day, she had a half-dozen scrapbooks of just before the wedding, alone!

A thought struck him, he really should get rid of that picture of him failing to put on those pants...who knows *_what_* those blasted red-heads were doing with it!

George, survivor of the great battle, seemed to have adopted Ron into the role of the 'potential, not-quite-but-close-enough' other Twin, in lieu of Fred; they were different, but it worked and seemed to heal the pain of having his other half ripped away...

A shudder rippled through him. With his luck, by the time they got back to the Burrow, it would be pasted on each and every front page of every newspaper known to wizarding kind.

"You should stay away from the windows, Draco..._Praxellians _can get into your heart if you stand too close, they live in the glass..." Luna said softly, pulling his hand away and moving them from where the rain lashed and pounded in rhythmic timing on the ornate glass.

He smiled as they sat on the bed.

Even now, though their Honeymoon seemed ruined by the fact they could not even venture outside without a Bubble-Head charm to prevent drowning, it seemed...right, somehow.

It was, however, all those red-headed devil's faults that they were here... Charlie suggested Romania, and was turned down by loud argumentative shouting, for a possible honeymoon location. The new and improved Twins wanted to tie them up in the basement and just leave them there for a week...

Would have gotten away with it too if Mrs Weasley's -mum's- frantic, angry yelling hadn't awoken the pair with a Twin looming over each of them, holding onto an ominous length of rope, each.

Percy and Bill, however, offered an alternate solution...Scotland. The plans were made without any real thought as to whether or not they wanted to go anywhere, but it was a nice gesture. Harry, another *adopted son* like him, paid for the whole thing, Bill and Percy planned it through the appropriate wizarding travel agencies...

And Mrs Weasley -Mum- packed their bags, roused them early one morning and stuffed them so full of food they had not needed another meal for a full day afterwards, before Mr Weasley -dad- had propped the half-awake couple in his old Ford Anglia, and driven off to the nearby train station.

Had to catch a Muggle train to reach the appropriate apparition point [_as marked on Wizard Maps by a small wizard disappearing in a poof of smoke then solidifying_].

Then they were here, a dazed blur of travel behind them and so disoriented, the first few hours of their honeymoon had encompassed little more than exhausted slumber...

And now, the third day, and still they remained trapped in this little hotel...so infuriating! Especially as Luna wished to go outside and look for those beloved _'snumpled-honked crack-heads' _of hers...

Why must absolutely everything in this universe be against him specifically?

Luna seemed to know, as she always did, what he was thinking, and leant her head upon his shoulder, legs swinging like a fidgety schoolchild's. "You don't need to be upset, Draco. I like it here...we could go downstairs and check the indoor gardens for _Pontifers_?"

He choked softly, "I...I know, Luna...it's just...I wanted this to be perfect for you, and...and it's not. Hell, we can't even leave this blasted hotel! Magical or otherwise, there is nothing compared to walking outside and breathing in fresh air...not the stuffy, re-circulated air that seems to be crowding us in, inside here!"

Luna remained silent as he had hopped up and began to pace, seeming to contemplate her hands for a long moment, eyes down as she whispered, "I know, Draco...but, could you not just be content to be here with me? I don't need to go outside if you are here with me..."

He paused, ramrod straight and shocked.

How could he be so selfish?

Kneeling at her feet and looking up into the downcast eyes, he held her hands gently, "Hey, I didn't mean it that way...I just wanted this to be perfect for you...I'd heard there was a herd of _'snorkle-humped crackhorns'_ around her somewhere, and...well...I'd hoped we could find one together."

Those beautiful eyes sparkled, coming alive like a sky at dawn, and she laughed in that fairy-like way before replying. "Oh yes, Draco, please! We can wait for the rain to stop, after all, they don't like rain..."

Her merriment stopped as she slid back on the bed and rested her head on the inviting pillows, "I love you, Draco Malfoy...don't you ever forget that."

His breath hitched painfully in his chest, eyes glazing over in complete and utter inability to form a reply to such a powerful, softly-spoken, sentiment...which meant so much. Maybe he had misheard, no one could possibly love *_him_*...could they? After all he was just an orphaned cast off with no prospects now the shackles of his family had been removed...not to mention-

"DRACO MALFOY, _you listen to me_!"

The voice cut through his dark thoughts like a ray of sunshine, or perhaps a sharpened sword through soft human flesh was a better metaphor... either way, his head jerked upright, eyes wide. Heart pounding furiously, which was surprising and relieving at the same time...it just confirmed he *_had_* one. The urge to smack himself was there, as he beheld the half-awake and saddened beauty on the bed, of *_course_* he had a heart...and it was *_hers_*.

Tears threatened to fall again, but he simply forced them back with sheer power of will, climbing onto the bed and curling up close in her willing arms, like a child needing comfort. Her gentle hands ran through his ice-blonde hair, the motion slowly teasing away all tension and worry... he felt sleep call for him, it's arms almost as welcoming as Luna's right now.

As the inky darkness embraced him, he heard an equally sleepy Luna whisper, "I love you Draco Malfoy...and I always will..." Dragging himself back from the brink for a moment, his voice raspy and a little grating, Draco managed to whisper back, "I love you too...Luna Malfoy." And fell into the depths of sleep.

As the couple rested in one another's arm, the steady pitter-patter of raindrops striking the window ceased slowly, nothing more than a handful of stray droplets flecking the glass on occasion... A tentative sun streamed through the numerous, dark clouds with a cheerful optimism akin to Luna herself...

There would be a fine day, come tomorrow...perfect for love, romance and the stalking of certain _'snumple-honked crackheads'_...if Draco had anything to say about it.

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><p><strong>The End.<strong>

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed it, my first and only romance fic...<strong>

**~*SailorSilvanesti/Phoenix Fire*~**

**Please REVIEW if you feel like it...**


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